ALGIERS, Sept. 24 -- A French tourist kidnapped on Sunday in northern Algeria was reportedly executed by an Islamic State (IS)-linked group, local media reported on Wednesday.

A video of the execution of Herve Gourdil was posted on YouTube, but was deleted immediately.

The local Ennahar TV broadcast the presumed video showing that the French hostage was surrounded by four masked men. However, the beheading process was not released, considering viewers' emotion, the channel said.

Herve Gourdil, a 55-year-old tourist to Algeria, was kidnapped on Sunday by an armed group affiliated to IS while hiking in a tourist attraction area of Djurdjura, upper hills of the province of Tizi Ouzou.

The armed group, which described itself as the Caliphate soldiers, claimed earlier responsibility for the abduction and urged French President Francois Hollande to halt the military operation against IS camps in Iraq to save the life of Gourdil.

In the newly released video, a masked man said in Arabic that Hollande was responsible for the death of his compatriot as he snubbed to halt the military operation against IS in Iraq.

Algeria has deployed more than 1,500 army troops, including paratroopers, to search for the French man.

Until now, the Algerian authorities have not released any reaction to the reported execution of the French hostage.